The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, AFRICMIL, has called for a “full-scale investigations” into the administrations of former Nigerian leaders and bring all those who breached public trust to account.
The AFRCMIL stated this while reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had spent $16 billion on power without commensurate result, to which Mr Obasanjo promptly responded, saying he was ready for a probe.
However, the organisation said the federal government has a duty to probe “all grey areas in every administration, beyond the alleged $16 billion power sector expenditure.”
The AFRICMIL Coordinator, Chido Onumah, in a statement, said: “This challenge the former president throws at the federal government presents a unique opportunity for us as a country to revisit our past and bring all our past leaders to account.
“Reopening the power sector expenditure probe would be a step in the right direction for the country, but that should just be the beginning”.
According to him, “It is high time the unwritten amnesty given to former heads of states and presidents was jettisoned and those individuals scrutinized to get them to fully account for their stewardship and explain the haemorrhage Nigeria suffered overtime.
“Apart from Sani Abacha, who died in office, there is no Nigerian leader whose personal misconduct was subjected to criminal investigation.
“This is both an anomaly and an irony. It is ironic that those who are alive are left to enjoy the fruits of their misdeeds,” he said.
Mr Onumah cited many countries including Israel, Brazil, South Korea and Malaysia, who in recent time subjected their former leaders to a corruption probe, saying that the practice is a major deterrence against corruption for future leaders.
“Nigerian money is our common patrimony. No one can wave off stealing on behalf of all citizens, and ignore the conduct of former leaders is doing exactly that,” he added.
Describing what he called “criminal collusion” on the part of successive leaders, Mr Onumah stated that, “it was unfair for law enforcement agents to go after subordinates while the big masquerades on whose table the buck stops are deliberately let off the hook.”
AFRICMIL boss called for a strong, independent inter-agency panel to investigate major scandals since the administration of former military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida.
